Gable top cartons are widely used in packaging, storing and dispensing flowable material. A typical prior art gable top carton comprises a generally planar bottom wall, side walls connected to and extending upwardly from the bottom wall, and a gable top articulated to the side walls of the carton and formed by a plurality of generally planar panels articulated in sequence to one another.
The panels forming the gable top of the prior art carton comprise a pair of rectangular roof panels and six triangular panels. The roof panels are articulated to opposite side wall portions of the prior art carton. The triangular panels of the prior art gable top are arranged to form an opposed pair of gable ends consisting of three triangular panels. The three triangular panels in each of the pair of gable ends are articulated consecutively to each other and to the rectangular roof panels and to the end walls of the prior art carton to form respective gable ends of the prior art carton.
The prior art gable top carton is closed by folding the triangular panels inwardly relative to the rectangular roof panels and by securing the top edge regions of the rectangular roof panels and the triangular panels in face-to-face relationship in a ridge seam.
One end gable of the carton is the pour spout end. Triangular portions of the rectangular roof panels which overlie and are articulated to triangular panels of the pour spout gable are provided with fold lines for articulating triangular portions of the roof panels in relation to the balance of the respective rectangular roof panel. The prior art gable top carton then can be opened by separating portions of the secured top edge regions by folding the roof edges respectively articulated to the end edges of the pour spout gable end one of the pairs of three triangular panels and overlying portions of the roof panels upwardly and outwardly and then swinging the gable edges toward the adjacent end of the carton to place the three triangular panels in a relation in which they define a pouring spout projecting from the gable end of the carton. The three triangular panels defining the pouring spout on the prior art gable top carton selectively can be refolded inwardly to temporarily reclose the carton or outwardly for pouring the flowable material stored in the carton.
The proper sealing of the top of a gable top carton requires careful selection and application of adhesive materials adjacent the top edge regions of the top panels. More particularly, the closure of the top of the prior art gable top carton must be sufficiently secure to prevent leakage or spoilage of the flowable material stored in the container. However, at least one-half of the top edge regions of the top panels must be capable of being opened relatively easily to permit the material stored in the container to be poured. This initial opening must be non-destructive to ensure an efficient pouring spout and to enable subsequent reclosings and reopenings of the top. An imprecise application of adhesive adjacent the top edge regions of the top panels can make it extremely difficult to initially open the carton, or conceivably could lead to leakage or spoilage prior to the initial opening of the spout. Many individuals find it difficult to open a prior art gable top carton even when the carton has been sealed properly.
Recently, there have been gable top cartons developed with a selectively openable and reclosable plastic spout mounted in one of the rectangular roof panels. More particularly, a selected rectangular roof panel has been provided with an aperture extending therethrough. A plastic spout having a closure cap which can be opened and closed is then adhered to the paperboard material of the prior art carton annularly of the aperture to effectively open and close the aperture by opening and closing the spout with the cap. The object of these fairly recent prior art cartons has been to simplify the opening and reclosing of the carton, but the capped spout projecting from the normal roof panel configuration of the carton is exposed to damage by collision with other objects. The projecting capped spout also interferes with compact stacking of such gable top cartons upside down on subjacent right-side-up cartons to save space in storage. Further, the projecting capped plastic spouts also at best have minimal tamper resistance and lack tamper indication, which shoplifters have found advantageous for concealing contraband; namely, they temporarily remove the cap, insert an "item-to-be-lifted" through the spout into the container and replace the cap.
It has also been generally considered undesirable and costly to form paperboard cartons with plastic or other non-paper appurtenances. The use of plastic pouring spouts involves significant additional cost for the container and additional manufacturing steps that cannot be efficiently carried out with available paperboard carton manufacturing equipment.
An additional problem arises in disposing of the carton, as in recycling the carton, the plastic spout must be separated from the paperboard of the carton for separate recycling.
In view of the above, it is an object of the subject invention to provide a paperboard gable top carton that does not require the rectangular roof panels of the gable top to be selectively foldable to define a projecting open pouring spout and foldable to substantially retract the spout into gable forming condition to temporarily reclose the carton.
A further object of the subject invention is to provide a gable top carton formed substantially entirely from paperboard material and having an efficient reclosable spout incorporated therein.
Another object of the subject invention is to provide a paperboard gable top carton with a reclosable pouring spout formed from a paper, paperboard or flexible plastic carton sheet material member disposed inside the carton in association with a tongue portion of one of the rectangular top panels of the gable top.
A further object of the subject invention is to provide in such a paperboard gable top carton with a reclosable pouring spout, an inner seal panel having its margin regions sealingly attached to a rectangular top panel annularly of and spanning the pouring spout member and between that member and the contents of the carton and dividing the interior of the carton into two chambers isolated from each other.
Another object of the subject invention is to secure part of the seal panel between adjacent carton portions in the ridge seam.
A further object of the invention is to provide a pull tab portion of the seal panel projecting from the ridge seam and pullable to tear open the seal panel and the roof panel tongue portion of the spout to open the carton.
Another object of the invention is to form the sheet material member of the spout so that when it is stored inside the carton it forms wing flanges which project laterally of the spout tongue portion of the roof panel to engage the inward face of the roof panel and substantially secure the pour spout in reclosed position with the tongue portion flush with the roof panel.
An additional object of the subject invention is to provide a gable top carton having a reclosable pour spout that does not project from the carton until opened and is latchable in closed position with the tongue portion in substantially flush relation with the rectangular roof panel from which it is formed.